Duchess of Cambridge's first official portrait unveiled

By Bryony Jones, CNN

Updated 1:33 PM ET, Mon January 14, 2013

Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled6 photos

Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled – Paul Emsley's "The Duchess of Cambridge" has been unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The painting is the first official portrait of Catherine, wife of Britain's Prince William, at the gallery. It joins centuries-worth of official paintings and photographs of the British royal family in the gallery's collection.

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Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled6 photos

Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled – The unveiling of the Duchess of Cambridge's first official portrait at the National Portrait Gallery has attracted considerable attention.

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Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled6 photos

Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled – Paul Emsley, an award-winning artist born in Glasgow, Scotland, painted the picture from a series of photos taken during two sittings in May and June 2012.

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Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled6 photos

Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled – The duchess is said to have asked to be portrayed naturally, and Emsley said he had chosen to show her smiling, because "that is really who she is."

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Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled6 photos

Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled – Catherine, who is expecting her first baby, is reported to be pleased with the finished work, telling Emsley at a private viewing that it is "amazing."

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Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled6 photos

Duchess of Cambridge's portrait unveiled – However, the reaction from art critics and the public has been more mixed, with many taking to Twitter to share their views that the portrait is unflattering.

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Story highlights

Duchess of Cambridge's first official portrait, by artist Paul Emsley, unveiled in London

Catherine, who is expecting her first baby, posed for the picture last year

She is a patron of the National Portrait Gallery, where the painting will be shown

Reaction to the portrait has been mixed; many on Twitter claim it is unflattering

"She struck me as enormously open and generous and a very warm person, so after initially feeling it was going to be an unsmiling portrait I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling - that is really who she is."

Both Catherine, who is expecting her first baby, and her husband Prince William, are said to be pleased with the finished painting, with the Duchess reportedly telling Emsley at a private viewing on Friday that it is "amazing... brilliant."

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However, reaction from art critics and the public has been more mixed, with many taking to social media, including Twitter, to share their thoughts, claiming the picture is unflattering and ages the Duchess beyond her years.

Emsley, who was born in Glasgow but grew up in South Africa before returning to Britain in 1996, won the prestigious BP Portrait Award in 2007. He has previously painted portraits of Nelson Mandela and author VS Naipaul.

He created the work from a series of photographs taken during two sittings, at Kensington Palace in London and at his studio in South West England, in May and June last year.

"I'm always worried about the sitter -- are they cold, are they hot, are they comfortable -- and photography today is so accurate and so good that it is really so much easier just to take photographs and work from that," he said.

Catherine's portrait joins centuries-worth of official paintings and photographs of the British royal family in the NPG's collection. The duchess is a patron of the gallery.

NPG director Sandy Nairne said revealing the portrait, which he described as "a captivating contemporary image," was "an exciting moment."

In a statement, Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: "The unveiling of a first official portrait of a royal sitter is always an important and intriguing moment, defining and enshrining their public image in a new way."